Development of the Manure Distributing Machine

HighlightsIn this study, a compact, mobile manure distributor capable of operating effectively on narrow farm roads and applying undiluted, highly concentrated manure on fields was developed.The inclusion of three manure distribution functions is expected to reduce manure transport and application costs.The use of this machine can reduce livestock waste disposal costs, increase soil fertility, enhance the physical and chemical properties of soil, reduce the use of commercial fertilizers when planting crops, upgrade the technology employed for recycling domestic livestock resources, and assist with animal husbandry by facilitating the planting of forage and high-energy crops.Abstract. In this study, the aim has been developed a manure collecting, processing, and distributing processor (machine) that is suitable for farming in Taiwan’s agricultural lands. The designed machine is composed of a stirring and draw unit, a manure containing barrel, a manure output mechanism, a ditch excavator, and a soil covering device or filling pipes set with pan-breakers. A tractor both carries and supplies power to the machine. Undiluted manure is pumped from an anaerobic fermentation tank into the manure containing barrel within which the stirring and draw unit is set, and after the manure is thoroughly mixed and stirred, it well the manure is delivered to the manure output mechanism through a 2-in. round pipe. The processing and spreading units developed here are soil-surface-spreading type, soil-stratum-setting type, and deep-soil-setting type. The soil-surface spreading type unit output manure on land surface directly then mixes the manure into soil by tillage, the soil-stratum-setting-type unit uses the ditch excavator to first dig a ditch, and after manure is pumped into the ditch, the soil covering device covers the ditch with the excavated soil. The deep soil setting enables manure to be deposited 30~40 cm below the soil surface, with the loose soil being spread back over the manure after filling. In field tests, manure was spread over the soil surface, incorporated into the soil, or deep filled into subsoil at three test sites, namely Yilan County riverside land, the Tainan County Livestock Research Institute, and a sweet potato field and cornfield in Tainan County. The results revealed that the 3-ton capacity of soil-stratum-setting method field capacity reached 0.58 ha/h at a speed of 2.92 ± 0.07 km/h, and the average cultivation depth was 17.5 ± 0.3 cm. The 5-ton capacity of soil-surface-spreading method working capacity was 1.02 ha/h at a speed of 3.49 ± 0.23 km/h. The 5-ton capacity of soil-stratum-setting method working capacity was 0.61 ha/h at a speed of 2.52 ± 0.32 km/h, and the average cultivation depth was 21.29 ± 1.31 cm. For the 5-ton capacity barrel of the deep-soil-setting type manure spreading machine field capacity was 0.62 ha/h at a speed of 2.8 ± 0.43 km/h. By using the soil-surface-spreading method can fast to handle livestock wastewater and/or manure spray-on land, and using the soil-stratum-setting method or deep-soil-setting method can reduce odor dissipation and fill it directly. Thus, this study successfully developed the compact, mobile, and domestically made manure-distributing processor that can suitably operate in Taiwan farm roads and apply undiluted, highly concentrated manure on fields. The three manure-distributing methods are expected to lower manure transport and application costs. Keywords: Fertilizer spreading, Reuse, Swine manure, Waste reduction.